POINTS OF 80's RESEARCH

We have decided to have a comedy duo as the main characters.  Both are male but one is British the other is American.  We feel that this would spice things up a little bit in terms of narrative and story and we could incorporate American elements into a British environment. We are also setting the game in Manchester as besides from the obvious choice London, Manchester is just as interesting and has a high crime rate in the UK at that time.  We are still undecided about that year(s) to set the game in.  Here are some points of research we need to cover:

• UK Crime
• UK Police
• Ferenzics
• Music
• Art/Artists
• Cartoons
• Fads
• Styles
• Films
• Tv
• Pulp Fiction
• Foods
• Transport
• Public figures/celebrities
• Technology
• Education/knowledge
• Politics/government
• School/Work/Family life/values
• Look at how society looked at gays, marriage, race, religion etc.
• Look at main religion and % of religions in Britain
• Interiors and exteriors
• Part times for families, elders and youths
• Popular/Main jobs
• Look at what influenced Britain from around the world
• For our characters look at what they grew up on and into

For the game visually we need to look at different art styles; we could so something realistic or something cartoon-like.  We also need to look at comedy duo's for our characters; that will be the strongest part of our game, their characterization and how they interact/react with each other, their environment and the situations they are placed in.

The research into 1983 is so important for this game; we need to make it historically accurate to maximize the players experience and for the game to seem believable.  For older players who grew up in the 80's it's extremely important that for them they see and play the game and go "Yes that happened and it was like that.    People used to look and dress like that.  We used to watch and listen to this and that." because they actually lived in that time period and we have to do it justice.

Here are some links to various bits of research:

Top Hits in 83
80's cartoons